SF 



BEE PRIMER 

FOR THE PROSPECTIVE BEEKEEPER 



By C. P. DAD ANT 

Editor of the American Bee Journal 




PUBLISHED BY 



G. B. LEWIS COMPANY 



MAKERS OF 



LEWIS BEEWARE 



WATERTOWN, WISCONSIN, U. S. A. 



COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY C. P. DADANT 



Price Fifteen Cents 



1 * *f \ I, J, M 



INDEX TO SUBJECTS 



Advice to Beekeepers Page ig 

Apiary, Location of 15 

Artificial Swarming 8 

Beginners, Instructions to 17 

Bee Escapes 13 

Bee Gloves i 

Bees, Handling i 

Bee Hive 4 

Bees, Italian 8 

Bee Moth 13 

Bees and Poultry 20 

Bee Veils i 

Bellows, Smokers i 

Brood Chamber 4 

Body 4 

Bottom 4 

Brood Frames 5 

Clothes for Bee Yard i 

Comb Foundation 4-14 

Comb Honey 8 

Cover 5 

Development of Brood 3 

Division Board 5 

Diseases of Bees 12 

Drones 3-7 

Escapes, Bee 13 

Extracted Honey g 

Feeding 11 

Foundation Comb 4 

Foul Brood 12 

Frames, Brood 5 

Gloves I 

Handling Bees i 

Honey Extractor g 

Honey Knife g 

History, Natural 2 

Hive 4 



Handling Honey Page 13 

Honey Crops g 

Horticulture 17 

How to Start Right 21 

Instructions to Beginners 17 

Knife Uncapping 9 

Location of Apiary 15 

Natural History 2 

Poultry and Bees 20 

Prevention of Swarming 7 

Propolis 4 

Queen 2 

Queen Rearing 8 

Rearing, Queens 8 

Robbing 10 

Sections 5-8 

Section Holder 5 

Separators 13 

Smokers, Bellows i 

Super 4 

Swarm Catcher 6 

Swarming 6 

Swarming, Artificial 7 

Swarming, Prevention of 7 

Section Honey 14 

Shipping Case 14 

Spring 18 

Sundry Advices ig 

Start Right 21 

Transferring Bees 15 

Uncapping Knife 9 

Veils, Bee i 

Wax Rendering 17 

Wintering Bees 10 

Wintering for Beginners 17 

Workers 3 



INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS 



Among the Bees Page i 

Bee Cellar 1 1 

Bee Escape 13 

Bee Hive 5 

Bees Lying Out y 

Brood Frames 5 

City Apiary 21 

Comb Foundation 4 

Drone o 

Extracting Hive g 

Foul Brood 12 

Gloves I 

Hives in Snow 11 

Honey Board 13 

^ ley Extractors g 

iioney Knife g 

Not Afraid of Bees 2 

APR 25 



Pretty Swarm Page 7 

Queen 2 

Queen Cells 2 

Ready for Business i 

Sealed Brood 4 

Sections 5 

Section Holders 5 

Separator 13 

Smoker i 

Shipping Case 14 

Swarm Catcher 6 

Veils I 

Worker 3 

Worker and Drone Cells 4 

Well Filled Sections 6 

Well Sealed Honey 9 

Winter Case ., ^ 1 1 

1914 ©GI.A369852 



NEW Bingham 
p^ P> ee5moker- 

^1^ Patented 



,11 \ -C^ ,/ 

HANDI 11X10 RFF^ "^^^ ^^^^ °^ stings is the greatest hindrance to the popular 
I IrAl 11/1^11 1\# UL.L-J keeping of bees. Were it not for this, bees would be found on 
farms as commonly as poultry, for their honey is one of the most delicious of Nature's 
products. 

Yet, there is VERY LITTLE DANGER OF STINGS when bees are properly 
handled. A little smoke, provided by the use of a BELLOWS SMOKER (Fig. i), at the 
entrance of the hive and over the combs when opening 
a hive will render the bees tractable. Bees do not sting' 
when filled with honey. Like a man who has just eaten 
a good meal, they feel peaceable. Frightening them 
with smoke, before opening the hive, will cause them to 
fill themselves with honey in anticipation of ejection 
from their home. Keeping smoke within reach after 
that will secure a quiet behavior in ordinary circum- 
stances. You are in no more danger from a properly 
managed hive of bees than you would be from the heels 
of your favorite horse or from the horns of a gentle 

milch cow. Bees 

may be handled 

without smoke, but 

a novice should use 

smoke until he has 

become an expert. 
A BEE VEIL 

(Fig. 5) should be used to protect the face in 

case of accident and gloves (Fig. 3) may be worn, but 

the latter make your actions clumsy. We do not 

recommend their use. 

When you go among the bees avoid wearing black 

or woolen clothes. White or light colored cotton 

clothes are best, for cotton is a vegetable fibre, familiar 







Fig. 2. Uearty fur business. 



to bees, while wool is an animal product and is there- 
fore disliked by them. Have your coat off and wear a 
straw hat (Fig. 4). 

Bees returning from the fields, or flying abouv 
fields, are not prone to sting. Those leaving the hive 



PAGE ONE 




^LK^ I ^ "^"''"f ^' '^^ '''^'- ^'■^ '^^ °">y °"^^ that need be feared Do not carelesslv 
jar the hive, or strike at them or fight them, but go about quietly and avSd nnn^.tc ^ 
quick motions or standing in the Hne of their flight to and from the hive """""'^^"^y 

NATURAL HISTORY 

The honey-bees are scientific- 
ally classed in the hymenoptera, 
because, like the wasps, horn- 
ets and bumble-bees, they have 
four membraneous gauzy 
wings. The scientific name of 
the common or black bee is 
"apis mellifica," owing to her 
production of honey from the 
nectar of flowers, which she 
gathers. A slight chemical 
change is made in the nectar 
while in the honey-sack of the 
bees, but its color, flavor and 
quality remain the same. Syrup, 
glucose or molasses, if fed to 
bees, would not change in ap- 
pearance, and clover honey 
does not resemble either alfalfa 

provide for them is a BEE-HIVE. ^^^ habitation which men 

r^jrJ^^^^ f ^ ^^"^^ different kinds of inhabitants in a bee-hive the 
QUEEN, the WORKERS, the DRONES. 

THE OUEEN ^^'^ ^a) is the only perfect female in the 
. . ^ hive, she is the mother and lays all the eggs. 

This is her only duty, and so well does she perform it, that she 
deposits, at some seasons, especially in spring, as many as 3,500 eggs 
in 24 hours. The eggs are carefully laid at the bottom of each ceil 

neve'^aSrThLT" '" ^u" u^"' ^^°''' ''^ "^^^^ ^^''' ^'' ^'"h' '" ^^e fields, on the wing. She 
fivTv./rf TT ^'f^'V^' h've, except with a swarm. Her life's duration is from two to 
five years. Usually after the second or third year her fertility decreases. A queen which 

has been prevented from 
mating by accidental con- 
finement to the hive for a 
period of about three weeks 
after birth, is no longer able 
to mate, but she can still lay 
eggs that will hatch. These, 
however, will produce only 
drones. This ability to lay 
eggs that produce life with- 
o u t impregnation belongs 
only to a few insects, and is 
called "parthenogenesis." 

The queens hatch in a 
queen-cell, a peculiar shaped 
cell hanging like an acorn 
cup from the combs. (Fig. g.) 
There is but one queen in 
each hive at one time, except 
when new ones are raised for 
swarming or when an old 





Fig. 9. Queen Cells, greatly enlarged 



PAGE TWO 



queen is being superseded or replaced by the bees, when two or more queens may exist in 
the hive at one time. In ordinary circumstances, queens fight each other to death. 




THF WORKFRS (^^S- 7^) are the most numerous inhabitants of the bee-hive, as 
IIIL. Vtv7I\1\LI\J also the smallest. They number from a few thousand up to eighty 
thousand or more. They do what their name implies, build the combs, rear 
the brood by feeding it and keeping it warm, harvest the honey, chase 
intruders away and keep the hive clean. They ventilate their home in the 
summer by the fanning of their wings and cluster together for warmth in 
the winter. They have short, thick, smooth manibles that enable them to 
tear the corolla of flowers and to build their combs out of soft wax, but they 
have no teeth like wasps or hornets. They are therefore UNABLE TO 
CUT THE SMOOTH SKIM OF ANY KIND OF SOUND FRUIT. ^^ • " 

Bees have five eyes, three small round eyes in a triangle at the top of the head, called 
"ocelli," and two large composite eyes formed of thousands of facets, one of these large eyes 
on each side of the head. The latter enable them to see at a distance, the former enable 
them to see within the hive, on the combs, in the dark. 

They have FOUR WINGS, two on each side of the corslet or second segment of the 
body. These wings fold over each other to enable them to enter within the cell where the 
brood is hatching. They have THREE PAIRS OF LEGS, also fastened to the second 
segment of the body. On the last or rear pair of legs of the workers, a small cavity, 
called the pollen basket, enables them to carry home the pollen of flowers, which some 
people, who see them so loaded, imagine to be wax, but which is used to make the pap for 
the young. It is popularly called bee-bread and is the fertilizing dust of flowers. 

The HONEY-SAC, or first stomach, is located in the abdomen or third segment of the 
body of the worker-bee. The ovaries, or egg pouches, which are very large in the queen, 
are almost absent in the workers, who are therefore incomplete females and unfit for mat- 
ing, although they may occasionally be able to lay a few eggs which hatch as drones. On 
the other hand, the sting, which is curved in the queen and used only to fight other queens, 
is straight in the worker and accompanied by a much better developed poison sac, which 
deposits venom in the wound made. 

The ^v'orker may live as long as six months or more in the winter, when she is not 
flying about, but in summer her life is very short, averaging less than forty days. She 
literally wears herself out. 




THF PiPONF^ (F'&- yc) are the largest inhabitants of the hive. They are reared in 
IIIL lylWllLJ spring or summer and are usually killed as soon as the crop fails. 
When any of them are noticed in a hive after the honey crop is ended, 
it is an almost sure sign that the hive is queenless. They are the 
males, do not work at anything, feed on the rtores within the hive 
and spend the pleasant hours of the day flying about for pleasure and 
in search of queens. The drone dies in the act of mating, and only one 
or two drones are needed to fertilize the young queens of each colony. 
But they are numerous, sometimes a thousand or more, so that the 
ijiuuf young queen may readily meet one in the field. The drones of one or 
two hives are ample for an apiary of hundreds of colonies, and it is 
always best to replace with worker combs as much as we can of the drone comb within 
the hives from which we do not wish to breed. 

The EGGS, which are laid by the queen, hatch into grubs, or larvae, within three days. 
At that time any larva that would hatch into a worker may be changed to a queen by their 
enlarging the cell containing it, a worker-cell, into a queen-cell (Fig. g), and feeding it 
plentifully of the best larval food prepared by the workers. That is why a hive which has 
been made queenless may rear another queen, provided it has eggs, or brood, in worker- 
cells, less than three days old. Dozens of queen-cells (Fig. q) are often built by the bees 
in such an emergency, or in preparation for swarming. 



DURATION OF 
DEVELOPMENT OF 
THE BROOD, FROM 
THE EGG TO THE 
PERFECT INSECT. 



In the eg-g Day; 

Growth of larva Days 

Spinning of cocoon Day- 
Period of rest Days 

Pliange in clirysalis or pupa Days 

(^liange to winged insect Days 

Averag'p duration of changes 



PAGE THREE 



ET 



AAAAAASf***********.******* 









The COMB! 
h a n g i n , 
downwaru 
from the ceil- 
i n g of the 
hive, are built 
by the work- 
ers, of bees- 
wax, produced 
by eating 
honey, much 
as animals 
produce fat, 
and are thus 
quite expen- 
sive, both in 
labor and ma- 
. .. , , T, , terial. The 

of SlmIlcI Brood. ... , . , 

cells m which 

the workers hatch, measure about five to the inch from wall to wall: those of the drones 
about four to the inch: those of the queens, resembling acorn cups, are built as occasion 
demands. About twenty-seven cells for workers and eighteen for drones, are found on each 
side of comb, for every square inch. When combs are filled, they are sealed by the bees. 








VV'Vt 



m 



Fig. 12. A New Comli, Worker and Drone Cells. 

this reason the most simple hives are the best, 
combs and the hive, is called a COLONY 
called a SWARM. 



COMB FOUNDATION (^i,^ 

13) has 
been invented to help the bees, by sup- 
plying them with the 
BASE OF THE 
COMB made of their 
own product, beeswax. 
The rudiments of 
worker-cells are 
printed on both sides. 
It helps to secure 
straight combs in 
brood frames and in 
the little honey sections, saves much labor 
and material to the bees and helps to 
prevent the building of much drone comb. 
Thus three very positive advantages are 
derived from its use. 

PROPOI K °^ bee-glue, is gathered 
r rvvyr v/li j j^y ^j^^ j^^^g ^^ ^-^^.^^ j^^^ 

as is the pollen, and is used to close up the 
cracks and crevices. It is gathered from 
the gum of several trees, is very sticky in 
warm weather and brittle in winter, and 
entirely prevents the use of drawers or 
tight-fitting implements within the hives, 
when such implements are left in their 
reach during the late summer or fall. For 
The combination formed by the bees, the 
The bees, without hive, combs or honey, are 



(Fi£ 



THE BEE -HIVE ^^^ modem bee-hive is composed of the following parts: 
14, next page.) 

Floor, known to bee-keepers as BOTTOM. 

Living room, known as BROOD-CHAMBER or BODY, in which the bees rear their 
brood, xeep the pollen, and should have sufficient amount of honey for their needs in all 
seasons. Store room or SUPER, in which the bees store the surplus honey which we take 
away from them. This super may be for COMB HONEY or for EXTRACTED HONEY, 

TAHE FOUR 




ilaiu I'arts 



and is slightly different in each case. Several supers may 
be piled on top of each other during a good honey harvest. 
The bees must have the free access of all at THAT time. 
Roof or COVER, which should fit on either the body 
or the different tiers of supers. For convenience, all 
parts should fit on any of the hives, so as to be inter- 
changeable. Nothing is more inconvenient than to have 
two or more different sizes of hives in an apiary. 

The BROOD-FRAMES (Fig. 15) are wooden frames 
or racks, in 
which the 
combs are 
s u spended 
s e parately 
so that the 
bee-keeper or 
apiarist may 
be able to 
take a hive 
of bees entirely apart and examine every nook, 
to ascertain the conditions, hunt for the queen, 
take away or exchange brood or honey and do 
all the manipulations that may suit his method 
or his fancy. It must be borne in mind that 
modern hives are a progress because of the in- 
sight they give us into the bee-hive, which is 
no longer a closed book as it was centuries ago. 
The man who buys modern hives and does not 
avail himself of the manipulations they permit, 
may as well go back to the box hives of his 
grandfather. 

The brood frames are placed from i^ to 
iV, inches apart from center to center. Eight 
and ten-frame hives are principally used in this country, and the most popular frame in use 
is the I.angstroth. During the summer, the combs in the brood chamber or body are filled 
mainly with brood, pollen and a little honey, but as fall approaches less brood is reared and 
honey enou<^h to winter the colony is usually stored by them in the upper part of the 
combs and in the rear. They never place their honey between the cluster or group and the 

entrance, becauseit ^ 

would be too much in 
reach of robber-bees. 

The SECTION- 
HOLDER (Fig. 16) is 
just what its name signi- 
fies. It is a contrivance 
to hold the sections in 
place within the super 




Brood Frames. 




Section Holder. 



The SECTIONS, or honey boxes (Fig. 17) are 
little square frames placed in the super to be filled 
with honey during the harvest (Fig. 18, next page). 
The sections are from i^4 to 2 inches from center to 
center, the ordinary size being 1%. They are usually 
made in one piece of smooth lumber, of pliable 
material like basswood, and folded. They are pro- 
vided with a strip of very thin comb foundation by the 
apiarist. A guide is indispensable, for the combs must 
be built straight and in 
the center of the sec- 
tions, otherwise they 
would be unmanageable 
and difficult to ship 
without breakage. 




Sections or Honey Boxes. 



Fig. 19. Division Board. 



A DUMMY, or division-board (Fig. 19), is often used in 
the brood chamber or body, to narrow down the space, in weak 



PAGE FIVE 



colonies, by removing 

unoccupied frames for 

winter or early spring to 

keep the bees warm. In 

this way a large hive may 

be fitted to the needs of 

either a small or a popul- 
ous colony. 

In the spring or early 

summer, after several 

weeks of incessant laying 

by the queen, when thou- 
sands of young bees hatch 
daily and the combs of the 
hive can no longer accom- 
modate its teeming popu- 
lation, the bees prepare 
for swarming, which is 
the natural way of in- 
crease, by building a num- 
ber of queen-cells (Fig. 
20) to replace the old 
queen who will leave the 
hive with the swarm, 
usually after the first ""'"'•''■ ""-i> '-""i ^<" <i""- 

queen has hatched. In some circumstances, however, the swarm leaves shortlv after the 
bu.ldmg of queen-cells. During the warm part of a summer day, the bees rush peH mell 
out of the h.ve and soon cluster upon a tree limb, a shrub, or some other obiect Tn cTose 
proximity. Allowing them fully to settle upon the spot selected by them the apiarist^e^s 
a hive in readiness. If the limb upon which they hang is of no value, it may be Tentlv cut 

inZn / ruT """^ ^'. '""'"''^ °'"'^^'y •" f^°"t of the empty hive, which haf been pu 
n shape and slightly raised from its bottom board with wedges or blocks The swarm is 
then shaken upon a sheet or cloth spread in front of the entrance. As they recoSze the 
she ter offered, they enter it and call each other by the fanning of their wUs making a 
peculiar roar or hum. It the queen is with them the entire swarm w 11 Toon be Joused 
If she ,s missing they will again take wing. With a little careful attention she mav be' 

fill -'' T^'t T^'" ?;"'^""'- ^"^ ^''^^'^'^ t°-^^d^ ^he new hive, for she i very heaTv^anS 
fl:es with difficulty. If the limb upon which the swarm has settled is too valSe to 2 cut 

the swarm may be 
shaken into a light 
box, a swarm catcher 
(Fig. 22), and car- 
ried to the hive. A 
very light amount of 
smoke may be used 






presenting 
brood 
or even an empty comb bor- 
rowed from another hive tem- 
porarily for this purpose. As 
soon as a few bees enter the 
hive and call the others, the 
entire swarm follows. In 



from^Ts'n^igiW"™" *'"* "''^ '^'''^ ""' hiving bees, nothing but the 



PAGE SIX 







H 








f 


^ 



Fis;, 21. A rretty i^^val■m on a Limb. 



body, bottom and cover should be 
used. The supers are put on only 
after the queen has begun her 
duties of laying eggs in the body. 
Otherwise, we might cause them to 
rear brood in the super, and this 
would soil the sections and darken 
their combs, making them unfit for 
sale. When numerous swarms are 
expected, in order to attract them 
to a convenient spot for clustering, 
a black stocking, a dry mullen 
stalk, a sumac head or a dry comb 
may be fastened in the most desir- 
able place in full view, as they often 
alight on a dark object and cluster 
there. An empty hive in readiness 
is sometimes seized upon by them. 
If too much time elapses between 
the clustering of a swarm and the 
gathering of it by the apiarist, the 
scouts which have gone forward 
from the swarm, to look for a home, 
may return, and the swarm will 
then leave the spot and may be lost. 



THE PREVENTION OF SWARMING 



is often a failure, but by following 
the method hereafter mentioned, 
much swarming may be avoided: Keep your hives well shaded from the sun during the 
hot weather. If trees are absent, use some sort of roof over the cover. For a very small 
apiary, an open shed is good. Give plenty of ventilation. Bees should never hanp; out in 
clusters (Fig. 23) on the 
outside of the hive in the 
busy season. Additional 
room for ventilation by 
raising the hive an inch or 
two from its bottom and 
additional super space will 
usually secure constant 
activity during the working 
day, and will help avoid tht 
issue of many swarms. 

Too many drones are 
also an inducement to 
swarm. These burly, noisy 
fellows are constantly in 
the way, during the honey 
crop. The removal of drone 
comb and replacing of it 
by worker comb in early 
spring will help keep down 
their numbers. I f t h e 
drone comb was removed 
without replacing it with 
worker comb, and the bees 

allowed to build in the same spot, they would probably build drone comb again, so it is 
important to REPLACE drone comb with worker comb or comb foundation. 

Lastly, if we produce EXTRACTED honey instead of COMB honey, and use very 
large hives, we will usually succeed in avoiding natural swarming, which is often unde- 
sired when the apiarist is absent during most of the time or has not the disposition to 
watch his colonies to gather the swarms. 

It should be borne in mind, however, that there is no infallible method of preventing 
natural swarming. A queen and drone TRAP or a GUARD may be used, but those 
implements are very much in the way of the bees and are not liked by the practical apiarist. 




PAGE SEVEN 



APTIFiriAl ^WARMIISiri °^ dividing, when increase is wanted, may be 
MI\III IV^Irtl- jnr^\l\lTlll'1VI resorted to in different ways, but the colonies must be 
very populous and this method of increase should be avoided by novices, as it is often 
overdone to the great detriment of the bees and the destruction of apiaries. 

One colony may be built up from two others, which, for convenience, we will call A 
and B, and the new hive C. Open A and remove from it the queen and the comb of brood 
upon which you find her, placing these in the new hive or C, with a full supply of frames, 
provided with comb foundation or tjtarters, ready for work. Now remove A from its stand 
and place C upon it. Remove B to a new spot and put A in its place. The field bees of A 
will come to C, and finding their queen there, will go to work as if nothing had happened, 
especially if the new hive is of the same color and shape. The bees in A are queenless and 
will at once proceed to raise a queen, unless you have prepared to supply them with one 
that you have either reared or purchased from a queen-breeder, in which case this queen 
should be in readiness and introduced at once. If they have to raise their own queen it is 
well to replace the comb that has been taken away with a comb secured from some other 
hive, as they would be sure to build drone comb. They always do this when they are 
queenless. Since they have the field bees of B. they are delayed but little. As to B, it has 
only lost its field bees, and within a week will be as good as ever. 

During a good honey flow, bees from different colonies may be thus mixed without 
danger, as they will not fight each other. The harvesting of honey renders them peaceable. 
This is the safest method of making artificial swarms. Numerous other methods are given 
in the text books. In making divisions of this kind, we must bear in mind that the old 
bees always know their original location, and will return to it invariably unless we can 
compel them in some way to take full notice of the change or unless they have abandoned 
it voluntarily with a natural swarm. 

Ol IPFISI RF ARIISiri '^ resorted to by the bees, whenever deprived of their queen by 
^ ixu./nr\ii IVJ ^j^g apiarist or by accident. But they must have eggs or young 

brood less than three days old. Otherwise they are hopeless. A colony which is rendered 
queenless should be provided with such brood, always from the choicest colony in the 
apiary. ARTIFICIAL QUEEN REARING is carried on by specialists with selected 
colonies, but this question is outside of the limits of this pamphlet and the student should 
refer to books treating of this subject. 

When queen bees are purchased, ITALIAN BEES should be given the prefer- 
ence, as they are uniformly liked for their higher qualities and gentleness. Other races have 
been tried, and among them the CARNIOLAN, but this bee is very similar to the common 
bee in appearance, not possessing the THREE YELLOW RINGS v.'hich are character- 
istics of the Italian. Purely ])red bees are to be preferred, other conditions being equal. 

THE PRODUCTION OF COMB-HONEY ''' '''' one-pound sections is 
•s.^..-^ ■^. -^w ^■•'^•.b. cai-ried on by the great 

majority of apiarists in the United States. The super containing sections to be filled, 
should not be placed upon the hive until the body is fairly well occupied by bees and brood, 
just at the opening of the honey flow, in early June usually, when white clover gets into 
full bloom. Partly built sections remaining from the previous year may be used as bait to 
draw the bees up into the super, provided those sections are clean. 

When colonies swarm, this usually puts an end to the production of honey in their 
super. In that case, and if you wish to get as large a result as possible, you may follow this 
method: Remove your swarm.ed colony to a new spot, at the time when you gather the 
swarm and place the hive containing the swarm on the old stand. This will secure all the 
field bees to the swarm and within two days you may give this swarm the supers of the 
parent colony. This deprives the parent colony of so many bees that it may suffer if the 
weather be cool, so judgment must be exercised in this matter. Instead of placing it in a 
new spot, you may exchange it with another colony which has no supers to fill, so that it 
will secure its field workers. 

In a very good honey crop, additional supers may be placed on a colony that is filling 
the sections rapidly, but this must not be overdone, as you run the risk of getting a large 
lot of unfinished sections, should the weather prove unfavorable and the crop of short 
duration. You cannot always predict a crop from the number of blossoms in the fields, 
and we have often seen a failure of honey production, due probably to atmospheric causes, 
when the pastures were white with clover bloom. The causes of honey production have so 
far remained unexplained. Two crops of honey, in June and August-September, are usually 
harvested in the Mississippi valley and the Lake region. After each of these crops it is 

PAGE EIGHT 




apiarist 
(Fig. 24 



offers on the market absolutely clean sections of WELL-SEALED HONEY. 
) 



THE PRODUCTION OF EXTRACTED HONEY tlTut^^ Ttt 

story hive (Fig. 25), both stories being of same depth, although the author of this treatise 
prefers shallow supers over very capacious hive bodies. The honey is extracted by centri- 
fugal action, by uncapping the combs with the UNCAPPING KNIFE (Fig. 26) and placing 

them within a HONEY 
EXTRACTOR (Fig. 27) in 
which they are revolved 
against a screen with enough 
speed to force the honey out 
against the sides of the can. 
The comb remains unbroken 
and may be returned to the 
bees, season after season, 
being every year better and 
stronger than before, for the 
bees add new wax to it each 
time. The bees being thus 
provided with combs already 
built from the previous sea- 
son, much time and labor is 
saved and a much greater 
return secured. Were it not 
that extracted honey sells 
United States at a less price than 
comb honey in sections, the honey- 
extractor would be universally used, 
for a colony which is provided with 
empty combs ad infinitum is much 




Fig. 26-. 

Bingham 

Uncapping 

Knife. 



the 




;-Story Hive for Extracting. Witli Two F"iill Deptli Bodies. 



Fig. 27. Iloncy Extractors. 



PAGE NINE 



less apt to swarm than the one that is run fnr c^^t;^,, i,„ j , 

The supers for extracting are put upon the h ves at he s.m7r ""^ ^V '^""^ "" ''' '°"'^'- 
greater number. The rlmovLl of 'them whirfu 1 it not "o u'ln? Ste^th ' '°"'^K '"' '" 
the appearance of the sealed honey has no importance"n th°s case ''°'' '' 

Extractmg should not be done until the honey is well rioened • fr.^h u 
large per cent, of water, and often runs like water when handled' It wn 1h'^ contams a 
If taken too soon. The bees ripen it and evapome it wh le in h^ comhTh ''"f-^^ 
ventilation. ^ wuuc in tne combs by active 

Extracting should be done within the honey-house awav frnrr, th^ u rr , 

no honey in the fields, it is well to wait until evenin" to rltTrn th ^^^ ^^^^- J^ ^here is 
the smell of the honey induces ROBBINO Whln^ ^ ^""^^^ ^° ^^^ bees, for 

once repair the combs [orefirtLm''a^^L?;st^p:nt;:^^^^^^^ °^ ^'^"^' '""^ ^^^ ^^ 

ROBBING lYz tt'XT'ir:%x:u::i: r^r °^ '--i-^--^- ^^^ -°-^^ 

spring and whenever there is a dearth of honey the 'tron. T"" 'f l^'^ '^^' ^'^ht in the 
rob the weak ones or those whose stores are e^p^sed^n^ndw'b.i: '°^°""-^ '"^'"P^ *° 
your weak colonies, especially those that haveTobe ed A OUEENL^^'-^""*^' '^'''' 

winter, is in great risk of being robbed bv the strnncr./^ y UtKNLESS colony, after 

some evenini, to another cofo^y by L^r yfnt itsTee^^^^^^^^ 

other hive, in which space has been prepared " j7 XTuJ "^^^ ^^"^^ '=°^^''' ^° ^he 

smoke used until all ire thoroSy frightened th^v \fT '" "°' ^"^'^"'" ^"^ ^ ^^"le 
will unite peaceably. ^"""^o^-'^'y brightened they will be prevented from fighting and 

iooks^1u\^^to^?hrtsr;T;;Sg'?Hr;h^;rt£^a^ ^^^^°-' -^ ^^^^^ ^^--y 

sweets. Healthy colonies are readilv nXrt.H f S'^d crevices, in search of forbidden 
the entrance of t'he hive" fth a'bloci; Stood'orir 1 ':'■" Bu'TtSf ""^r'"^ '^^^ 
of prevention is worth a pound of cure <^nmPt,-,^»o ux^ , ' ^'^'^ matter, an ounce 

may be protected by exchan."ne ts locatinn^r ^ , "°u'^u '°'°"y "^^''"^ '^ ^°^th saving 
The rob'bing colon/mayeafly^ detected by sprinkHn' the ' tb'^'^^^^"^. "^''^'^ '""b^ '^ 
then interesting to note^the as^onishmeS of thVrTbt bis ^Cn thev'fi'L'tf •^°"''- J' '' 
where they expected to find plunder ^ ^"^ ^beir own home 

scarJt;^^?i.t^n°?h^hon:yrop^S^'n°T&ERrrRrN'^^ ^°°- ^" ^-- ^^ 

for all bees prefer the freL nTctar°o"f flowl^s'^to^^h? b'^e^ ho^n^y'^'^ Whe'l'' ^^^^^.^S. 
sneaking about the hives, examining the cracks vm, mlw hf ^' . u y°'' ^^^ bees 

much honey in the fields. -racks, you may be certain that there is not 

TO WINTER r""" ^^^' successfully, first make sure that they have eno„ah =. 
lifting the hive. In th^ cLTTc^ount^ mtfbl t^k "^f >: i"^^^ ^f SetluToTs'tor by 
combs may add to the usualweight of a h"ve Sn pounH " ^^' °' '^^ ''''"'''■ ^ery old 
Twenty-five pounds of honey, at leas Is necessar'v tn °!; "T" '^'*''°"' comaining honey, 
be wintered with less in the cella^ but ZlZf^ J!!^' ^^^' °"' °^ d°°"- They may 

spring to rear brood. INDOOR winding 'houW he ^b^'^'T"' '"^^ '""^ ^^ '^^"^s-y - 
the Mississippi valley and Lake reTiSn (DUTDoOr ^' ' "° - °^ *^' ^'^ '^'^"'' *" 

are ^S^n "f^^SJ^f^.^S » ^Va^f " " i" a „.„-„,,. 3i,„. TH. „,„.Hes 
?,""''" f " much ,he%es., thougJ™ i„d sp.nsabl a Put'.ht?""- "' ""'"""^ °"'' 

woolen carpel,, bags full „£ charts, leaS e^c ^n' '>"»'5 , "•"''^- ™ch as old 

thaw and freeze at the entrance and intercem v^m-T',- .'1"°' "■>'"•«"= if " does not 

weather is well sheltered. Should a wirm da. c^™, Ih"' * '""' """=" '" "•""" i» ""> 

StthtS %°4t,'" """ ="■» --"r^^rr-^rja^-d^-e-rp'e^' 



PACK TEN 




honey-dew nor fruit juices, which are sometimes 
gathered from decaying fruit in bad seasons, the 
bees will stand a very long cold spell. 

FFFnilSin should be resorted to only when the 
iLt-Ullivl ^ggg j^^^g 3n insufficient amount of 
winter stores, or in spring when the blossoms are 
delayed, or during the interval between the fruit 
bloom and the white clover crop, as they breed 
heavily at that time and consume a great deal. 
Bees may me found starving even when there are 
blossoms in the fields, if the weather is not favor- 
able to the secretion of honey. Allowing them to 
starve at such time is worse than killing the hen 
that lays the golden eggs. 

Feeders of all kinds are to be had. The best 
are those which place the food nearest to the brood 
and the farthest from the entrance. Do not feed 
any unknown honey, no matter how good it may 
appear, for it may contain germs of bee diseases 
which are harmless to human beings, but death 
to the bee-larvae. Feed honey from your own 
bees or from some other known source, or feed 
sugar syrup made by diluting two pounds of the 
best granulated sugar in one pound of water; 
sugar candy made like the popular "fudge" and 
placed over the combs, is also good winter food. 
For spring, the liquid food is best, especially if 
warm. 

In feeding your bees and in all the other 
manipulations of the apiary in times of scarcity, 
avoid attracting robbers, especially if the colony 
is weak. If the robber, who flies about the hive in 
a quick, sneaking, nervous way, can gain adrnit- 
tance, it will carry away the stores and bring 
others from its own hive until the colony is 




Via. :M). In tlie Snow in Midwiutm'. 
PAGE ELEVEN 



overpowered. A short method to protect a hive from robbing when it is threatened and 
has been fed or handled, is to throw a bunch of fine grass over the entrance. In this 
grass the guards of the hive can readily seize and frighten the robbers. If feeding is done 
in the evening, the bees are less apt to be annoyed by robbers and have time to put the 
food away in the cells, where it gives less smell and is safer. Syrup attracts robbers less 
than honey. Combs of honey from rich colonies exchanged for dry comb of destitute 
colonies are very useful for feeding. 

DISEASES OF BEES are few. Those of the adult insect consist first in. 
DIARRHEA, which is caused by thin or unhealthy honey consumed in very cold, long 
winters. It is rare, but has been known to destroy entire colonies. The best way to pre- 
vent it is to have none but good, ripe honey in the combs for winter. 

Another disease of the adult bee is the MAY DISEASE, also called PARALYSIS and 
CONSTIPATION. The bee crawls about in misery with loaded and fetid bowels, and 
sooner or later dies. This usually disappears at the opening of the crop. It is uncommon 
and rarely destroys entire colonies. 

The worst of all bee diseases attacks th brood and is called FOULBROOD. (Fig. 
31.) The true, malignant, contagious foulbrood is readily recognized, when sufficiently 
advanced, by three positive signs: the ROPINESS of the decayed matter; when you 
insert a small stick into it, it stretches into ropy or rubber-like filaments : the COFFEE 
COLOR, the larva is at first whitish, then yellow, and afterwards of a dark brown color: 
the GLUE POT SMELL, this is usually noticeable only when the disease is far advanced. 
Foulbrood is due to a fast reproducing microbe called "bacillus larvae" (by some "bacillus 
alvei"), whose spores are readily transported from hive to hive by the bees or by the 
apiarist, most especially in the honey. Luckily, it is infrenuent, the writer having kept 
bees for forty years before he saw a single case. But owing to its rapidity in reproducing, 
it should be fought with the utmost vigor, as colonies attacked by this disease soon die 
out. Modern bee-keeping tends to increase its spread, owing to the frequent shipping of 
honey, bees, queens, etc., from one part of the country to another. 

TO CURE FOULBROOD, open the hive in the evening, preferably at the beginning 
of the honey harvest, when there are no robbers about, remove all the bees by shaking 
them on a sheet of paper or oil-cloth, in front of a clean, empty hive with only foundation 
starters in the frames and located on their own stand. Leave them three days without 
combs or food, so they may use up the honey within their stomachs. At the end of that 
time transfer them again into a hive containing sheets of foundation. The combs of the 
old hive should be melted into wax and the wax and honey heated thoroughly and kept 
about the boiling point of water for an hour. The brood should be burnt up. It is best to 
singe the inside surface of the old hive, body, bottom, cover and frames, by coating them 

slightly with 
oil and al- 
lowing the 
flames to 
cover them 
for a few 
seconds. 
Better yet, 
they may be 
singed with 
a tinner's or 
p a i n t e r ' s 
gasoline 
torch. The 
operator 
should care- 
fully cleanse 
his hands 
and all in- 
s t r uments 
after each 
ope ration. 
By following 
this method 
foulbrood is 
suppressed 



N. E. FRANC 



State ln?imrff^r nf 




PAGE TWELVE 



before it has had time to spread. If there is no honey in the fields, the bees, of course, 

'""Anothe'r'form of foulbrood, called "BLACK BROOD" or "EUROPEAN FOUL- 
BROOD," in which the symptoms are slightly different, the ropiness less apparent, may be 
cured by removing the queen or caging her so as to allow the bees to clean out all dead 
Sood. Shortly after the last bees have hatched, or in about thirty days, the queen may 
be released or a new queen given. By that time the disease is usually overcome. But this 
is impracticable in the true ropy foulbrood, because the bees can never clean out all the 
dead 'arvae. Even if they did!^it is well proven that such combs P^Pf "^^^^^'^^/^X; 
unless strong amiseptics are used, which the average operator cannot ^Jo'-d t° ^mher 
with. In either of these diseases, the seals or caps of the «"\^°"^^\"'"g,f;fVfcKLED 
Dunctured or sunken. A very mild form of disease of the brood is called PICKLED 
^ROOD Some larvae die, but usually dry out so that they may be shaken out by inverting 
the combs. It is unimportant. Unimportant also is chilled brood, ^Jat has been k 11^^^ by 
accidental exposure to cold, or starved brood, which has died for lack of sufficient food. 

The BEE-MOTH has been considered a very dangerous enemy of bees. But modern 
methods have proven that this insect cannot harm healthy, strong colonies of bees. Like 
Se carrion file's that lay eggs in the body of dead or dying ->--l%-^<? P^ombs of weak 
by the million, the bee-moth is a predatory insect which lays eggs in the combs of weak 
o?queenless or dead colonies. Its larvae grow and feed upon the cocoons, wax, propol^ 
and detritus of old hives. If your colonies are strong, your bees have nothing to fear frorn 
the moth. If you wish to preserve empty combs or combs of honey, free from ^oths^keep 
hem in a well closed box after having burned a little brimstone, ma dish or crock, withm 
the box Or use a few drops of bisulphide of carbon on a rag or in a saucer within the 
box This drug is inflammable and should be used with care. The burning of brimstone 
wi'hin the hon!y-room in a dish, in quamity sufficient to kill the flies, will destroy he 
moth. Neither their eggs, nor the winged insect can stand the winter in a room where the 
Smperature gets downibout zero. The only way in which the bee-moth perpetuates in 
this climate if by an occasional larva escaping the vigilance of the worker bees n some 
warm nook of a populous hive, or by the apiarist keeping some combs over winter within 
the walls of a warm house. 

THE PROPER HANDLING OF HONEY ^tt^;^^,tS::^ti 

of great importance. Do not use smoke in large amount over the combs that are to be 
removed, for it taints the honey perceptibly, especially if strong, like tobacco smoke. Use 
just enough to handle the bees safely. A case of comb honey raised oft the hive and laid 
carefully down upon a bottom board close at hand, may be covered with a sheet. The bees 
will leave it promptly and return to the hive, crawling out from under the sheet. No 
occasion should be given them to come back, however, as they would sooner or later carry 

all the honey back to the hive. „ .^. . u ^ ■„ 

BEE-ESCAPES (Fig. 32) are very handy in 
removing bees from either extracting supers or section 
supers. They are placed in a special HONEY- 
BOARD (Fig. 33) which is inserted between the body 
and the super of the colony, in the evening preceding 
the intended removal of 
the honey. Care must 

be taken not to leave any crevices through which robber 

bees might pass in or out, since most of the inmates will 

have left the super without defense against intruders from 

without. The only possible danger in the use of bee- 
escapes is in very hot weather, in a hive exposed to the 

rays of the sun when the super, which has no room left for 

ventilation, except through the very small opening in the 

escape, may be subjected to a temperature high enough to 

break down the combs. Outside of this possibility, the 

bee-escape is highly commendable for the removal of honey 





FiK. •■'.3. Escape in Honey Board. 




Fig. 34. Separator. 



SEPARATORS (Fig. 34) between the sections, whether 
of wood or metal, are necessary if you wish to produce fancy 
honey which may be handled or crated without danger of 
scratching the surface of the combs. When separators are 
not used, the sections must be placed within the SHIPPING 



PACK THIRTEEN 




CASES in the same position as they were built, so that inequaUties in the combs may lit in 
their proper places. But in the production of extracted honey, or if you wish to raise comb 
honey only for your own consumption, separators are not desirable, for they are 
impediments to the free action and ventilation within the hive. 

For the above reason, queen-excluders, to keep the queen out of the supers so that she 
may not lay eggs in those combs, bee-entrance guards and queen and drone-traps to keep 
the queen from leaving the hive and to destroy the drones as they emerge, are not to be 
recommended unconditionally. But, these contrivances are used by many people, 
nevertheless; if removed as soon as no longer needed, they prove useful in some cases. 

SECTION HONEY is put up in SHIPPING 

CASES (Fig. 35) with glass on one side and paper at 

the bottom to keep dripping honey from running out. 

The sections along the glass should be a fair average 

sample of those within. It is neither profitable nor fair 

to misrepresent. 

EXTRACTED HONEY is kept in tanks or barrels 

until the end of the warm season, when it should be put 
Shipping Case. up for sale at retail before it GRANULATES. In 

JUNE HONEY, granulation takes place about the first 
of September, and in FALL HONEY by the end of November. This is the rule, but not 
without exception. Honey which has been harvested too soon, is sometimes watery. 
Some of its water may be evaporated during the summer by keeping it in a very warm, dry 
room, but it is far best to delay harvesting until it is fully ripe and thick. 

Square cans, glass jars, tin friction top pails, are the most serviceable packages for 
extracted honey. No impurities should be allowed in the retail packages. Honey is very 
heavy, twelve pounds to the gallon, and all impurities, such as broken particles of comb, 
bees, etc., rise to the surface, and should be skimmed off previous to bottling. 

Granulated honey may be liquefied by slow heat, but as this product contains very 
volatile essential oils, from the blossoms, which give it its fine flavor, and as it may be 
scorched readily, it should never be heated over a direct fire. Over water, or in a water 
bath with the temperature of the water BELOW THE BOILING POINT, honey will 
melt until it has regained its liquid form, and will after this be slower to granulate again. 
Very ripe and thick honey granulates in soft, butter-like grains. Honey that is more or 
less unripe, granulates in lumps like sugar, with watery particles about the lumps. Such 
honey will improve by being melted properly, as it will evaporate more or less of the 
watery particles. 

There is no such thing (and there never was) as artificial comb honey. The making 
of comb foundation, the base of the honey-comb, from pure beeswax, used as guides in 
frames and sections, gave rise to the story of artificial comb honey, the making of which 
would be beyond the power of man. COMB FOUNDATION secures straight combs, 
worker combs, saves the bees immense labor, is made of their own product and has come 
to stay. It is used in full sheets: sometimes in the brood chamber it is strengthened 
with light wires imbedded in it. Care should be taken in giving it to natural swarms, as 
they may hang upon it and break it down with their weight before they have fastened it 
sufficiently. It is best to alternate it with built combs to lessen the load. 

Narrow sheets of comb foundation, used to guide the bees, and hung to the ceiling 
of either sections or frames, are called STARTERS. They are indispensable to secure 
straight combs. In sections some apiarists use a triangular sheet hanging from the ceiling 
and a very narrow strip at the bottom. This causes the bees to fasten the comb at the 
bottom as well as at the top, and insures safer transportation, for a comb which is fastened 
only to the top is very easily broken out. Full sheets in sections are, of course, preferable. 
To begin in bee-culture, it is not advisable to buy more than from two to five colonies 
of bees until you learn how to handle them and make sure that you will enjoy working 
with them, for a neglected apiary is worthless. Colonies or swarms may usually be 
bought cheaper near home than by sending away for them, owing to the expense of 
expressage. If you buy full colonies, try to make your purchase a little before fruit bloom, 
as at this time they are lightest and can be most easily transported. 

Inspect the inside of the hives, selecting those that fly the strongest, and make sure 
that they have healthy brood in the combs. As a matter of course, you will buy bees in 
movable frame hives, for it is quite a task for a beginner to transfer bees, and bee-keeping 
is out of the question without movable frames at the present advanced stage of the pursuit. 

PAGE FOURTEEN 



If you have to move the bees but a short distance, you will have no difficuhy, by 
simply naihng a wooden block before the entrance and making sure that the bottom board 
and cover are fastened down so they cannot be removed hy jar. We usually tack a cleat 
over them. Move the hives during cool weather or at night. If you must wait till warm 
weather, then remove the cap and tack a sheet of wire cloth over the frames and keep the 
hive in the shade until they are released. When you place them on the spot which they 
are to occupy, release them, and at the same time blow a little smoke in at the entrance. 
This is necessary if they have traveled but a short distance, as they may be irritated. But 
if they have been confined and carried for quite a distance, they will be frightened so as to 
be harmless. Yet it is a good precaution to smoke them a little. Place some sort of 
obstruction across their flight, such as a slanting board leaning over the entrance, or any- 
thing which will not prevent them from going out, but will make a very plain impediment 
to their starting out — as they are accustomed to do — in a bee line from the entrance. By 
this means you compel them to take notice of the fact that their surroundings have been 
changed: each bee as it flies out will recognize the spot. Thus you will avoid the risk of 
losing a great many who would otherwise fly straight out and be unable to return. 

THF APIARY ^^^ your bees in a sheltered spot, as much as possible facing south, 
IIIL MrlrMxl southeast or southwest. A northern exposure has always proved 
detrimental with us. If your bees can be sheltered by a board fence from the hard winds, 
so much the better. But the ideal location is on the south slope of a hill. 

Bee-culture will succeed almost anywhere, but a country with plenty of white clover 
pasture and orchards, and with low, moist fields where the persicarias (commonly called 
heartsease), golden rod, Spanish needles and asters are to be found in abundance during 
the fall months, will prove good for honey production. Sweet clover, alfalfa and many 
wild flowers are also good honey producers. 

Place your bees in the shade of some shrubs, under apple trees or cherry trees. Tall 
shade trees will do if you are not afraid of climbing after swarms, or if you keep your 
bees in very large hives from which they will swarm but little. It is well to have a good 
foundation for each hive, by using either bricks or oak blocks. A few cinders will keep the 
weeds and grass from growing in front of the entrance. 

TRANSFERRING ^^^^ from common to movable-frame hives. 

*^'*'~'" LIMVUlVJ This process may be easily affected whenever the weather is 
warm, enough for bees to fly. It has sometimes been done in winter for purposes of experi- 
ment, by removing the bees into a warm room, but the best time for it is when the bees 
have the least honey, at the beginning of the fruit bloom. If it can be done on a warm day, 
when they are at work, there will be but little danger from robbers. 

It is conducted as follows: Have in readiness a box — which we shall call the forcing 
box — whose diameter is about the same as that of the hive from which you intend to drive 
the swarm. Smoke the hive, lift it from its bottom-board without the slightest jar, turn 
it over and carefully carry it off about a rod, as bees, if undisturbed, are much more 
inclined to be peaceable, when removed a short distance from their familiar stand. If the 
hive is gently placed upside down on the ground, scarcely a bee will fly out, and there will 
be little danger of being stung. The timid and inexperienced should protect themselves 
with a bee veil, and may blow more smoke among them, as soon as the hive is inverted. 
After placing it on the ground, the forcing-box must be put over it. If smooth inside it 
should have slats fastened one-third of the distance from the top, to aid bees in clustering. 
Some apiarists place the box slanting on the hive, so as to be able to see the bees climbing. 
This method, called open driving, is a little slower, but it may give the operator a chance 
of seeing the queen : when the driving can be considered as done. 

As soon as the apiarist has confined the bees, he should place an empty hive — which 
we call the decoy-hive — upon their old stand, which those returning from the fields may 
enter, instead of dispersing to other hives, to meet, perhaps, with a most ungracious 
reception. As a general rule, however, a bee with a load of honey or bee-bread, after the 
extent of her resources is ascertained, is pretty sure to be welcomed by any hive to which 
she may carry her treasure; while a poverty-stricken unfortunate that presumes to claim 
their hospitality is, usually, at once destroyed. The one meets with as flattering a recep- 
tion as a wealthy gentleman proposing to take up his abode in a country village, while 
the other is as much an object of dislike as a poor man, who bids fair to become a public 
charge. 

P.\GE FIFTEEN 



If there are in the apiary several old colonies standing close together, it is desirable, 
in performing this operation, that the decoy-hive, and the forcing-box, should be of the 
same shape and even color with that of the parent hive. If they are very unlike, and the 
returning bees attempt to enter a neighboring hive, because it resembles their old home, 
the adjoining hives should have sheets thrown over them, to hide them from the bees, 
until the operation is completed. 

To return to our imprisoned bees; their hive should be beaten smartly with the 
palms of the hands, or two small rods, on the sides to which the combs are attached, so as 
to run no risk of loosening them. These "RAPPINGS," although not of a very "spiritual" 
character, produce, nevertheless, a decided effect upon the bees. Their first impulse, if no 
smoke were used, would be to sally out, and wreak their vengeance on those who thus 
rudely assail their honied dome; but as soon as they inhale its fumes, and feel the terrible 
concussion of their once stable abode, a sudden fear that they are to be driven from their 
treasure, takes possession of them. Determined to prepare for this unceremonious writ of 
ejection, by carrying off what they can, each bee begins to lay in a supply, and in about 
five minutes, all are filled to their utmost capacity. A prodigious humming is now heard, 
as they begin to mount into the upper box : and in about fifteen minutes from the time the 
rapping began — if it has been continued with but slight intermissions — the mass of bees, 
with their queen, will hang clustered in the forcing-box, like any natural swarm, and may, 
at the proper time, be readily shaken out on a sheet in front of their intended hive. 

Now put the forcing-box on their old stand and carry the parent-hive to some place 
where you cannot be annoyed by other bees. 

It is important to make sure that the queen is removed, as she might be injured in the 
transfer of comb. Her presence among the driven bees can be ascertained in a few minutes 
by the quietness of their behavior, or by the eggs which she drops on the bottom board, and 
which can easily be seen if a black cloth is spread under the forcing-box. 

If the queen is not with the bees, a few will come out and run about, as if anxiously 
searching for something they have lost. The alarm is rapidly communicated to the whole 
colony ; the explorers are reinforced, the ventilators suspend their operations, and soon the 
air is filled with bees. If they cannot find the queen, they return to their old stand, and if 
no hive is there, will soon enter one of the adjoining colonies. If their queen is restored to 
them soon after they miss her, those running out of the hive will make a half-circle and 
return ; the ioyful news is quickly communicated to those on the wing, who forthwith 
alight and enter the hive; all appearance of agitated running about on the outside of the 
hive ceases and ventilation, with its joyful hum, is again resumed. 

If the queen has not left the old hive, it is safer to return the bees and to resume the 
driving at another time. 

To transfer the comb, have on hand tools for prying oft" a side of the hive ; a large 
knife for cutting out the combs ; vessels for the honey ; a table or board on which to lay 
the brood combs; and water for washing off, from time to time, the honey which will stick 
to your hands. 

Have also a number of pieces of wire. No. i6, cut a little longer than the frame, and 
bent on the ends in this shape * ' to be driven into the wood of the frame and to hold 

the combs in place. Let a certain number of frames be in readiness, with three or four of 
these wires fastened on one side, and lay them on the table, WIRE-SIDE DOWN. You 
must also have your movable frame hive in readiness near the table, with an extracting pan 
under it instead of a bottom board, to receive what honey may drip. All this must be 
ready before disturbing the bees. 

Having selected the WORKER-COMBS, carefully cut them rather large, so that they 
will just CROWD into the frames and retain their places in their natural position until 
the bees have time to fasten them. 

Now tack as many wires over them as may be necessary to hold them securely, and 
hang them in the hive. DRONE COMBS SHOULD BE" INVARIABLY MELTED 
INTO WAX. If drone-brood is found, it can be fed to young chickens, who are very fond 
of the larvae. The bottom board should be put under the hive just before carrying it out. 

When the hive is thus prepared, the bees may be put into it and confined, water being 
given to them until they have time to make secure ri gainst robbers. 

If there is danger of robbers, it is preferable not to put the bees into the hive till late 
in the afternoon. They should be shaken in front of the new hive on a sheet like a 
natural swarm. 

P.\GK SIXTKEX 



When the weather is cool, the transfer should be made in a warm room, to prevent 
the brood from being fatally chilled. An expert apiarist can complete the whole operation 
— from the driving of the bees to the returning of them to their new hive — in about an 
hour, and with the loss of very few bees, old or young. 

When transferring in early spring, it should be remembered that the worker-brood is 
of great value, and not the least bit of it should be neglected or wasted unnecessarily. 
After a week or more, according to the season, the hive may be opened and the fastenings 
removed. 

Let not the novice, however, think that transferring bees is a task that requires but 
little skill. He who transfers successfully a large number of colonies may be called an 
expert in handling bees. 

HORTICULTURE AND BEE-CULTURE f- r.r,t;trp £tSS; 

by going in them in search of pollen. It is by the agency of insects that fruits are often 
made most abundant. Spraying will not injure the fruit or poison the bees if it is done 
after the blossoms have fallen, and this is the only time when fruit trees should be sprayed 
to kill the injurious insects, such as the codling moth. 

When you produce honey, do not rush it off to the large cities, but be sure and supply 
your home market first. The writer has known apiarists to ship their honey to a commis- 
sion man who reshipped a part of it right back to the grocer in the immediate vicinity of 
the producer of that honey. Honey is good and wholesome. It is an already assimilated 
food, and for that reason is far superior to sugar or fruits for the invalid, but it should be 
used in reasonable quantities. Those whose stomachs will not accept honey may learn to 
use it by beginning with very diminutive doses. The slight amount of acid contained in 
the honey is the only cause for its rejection, but when once the stomach is accustomed to it, 
it will be found the most digestible food taken. 

To change the breed of your bees you may buy some queens of such breed as you see 
fit to select. Upon receipt of the queen purchased, remove the queen of your colony and 
insert the new queen. A good method of introduction is usually printed on the mailing 
cage which contains the queen. If this is done in the early part of the season you will see 
the worker progeny entirely changed before fall, for in the busy season the worker bees do 
not live on an average over forty days. A good queen will last three years and sometimes 
four or five years, but the bees will usually rear a new one from her brood before she dies. 

Beware of making inventions in bee-culture until you have mastered the subject. 

MELTING COMB INTO BEESWAX JL*^ ^at? £Lf ^r.trS, r 

tub with cistern or soft water, keep the combs for about twenty-four hours under water, by 
some boards loaded with stones or bricks. The water will dissolve the impurities and by 
moistening the cocoons left in the cells by the larvae, it will prevent them from absorbing 
wax. Then, after draining the water out, melt them slowly with clear water in a copper or 
tin boiler. This method will give you a larger quantity and a better quality of beeswax 
than any other. 

We recommend the HERSHISER WAX PRESS for melting combs. 

The melted wax should be poured into flaring vessels so as to be easily removed when 
cooled. 



INSTRUCTIONS TO BEGINNERS 

WINTER. 

1. To winter bees successfully out of doors, shelter them from north winds and keep 
them in a dry place, a little above ground. 

2. To winter bees indoors, they should be kept at a temperature of 40 to 45 degrees, 
in quietude and darkness. 

3. A room or garret, where the temperature varies, is a bad place to winter bees, 
in confinement. 

4. Twenty-five pounds of honey is required to winter a colony of bees and help them 
to breed early in spring. 

PAGE SEVENTEEN 



5. Do not keep your bees confined to the hive on warm winter days. 

6. Prepare your hives in the winter and make them large. A large hive can be 
reduced in size by the help of a removable division-board, but a small hive cannot be 
enlarged and is not suitable for the use of a very prolific queen. Make all hives and frames 
of uniform size. 

SPRING. 

7. Spring is the season when the bees are most in danger of starvation and dwindling. 
Watch your colonies, feed the destitute till the honey crop opens, and lessen the room by 
means of a partition board, increasing the space as it is needed. 

8. If you have to feed, do not feed at the entrance or out of doors, as it would teach 
bees to rob. Feed in the hive above the brood. 

g. When you transport bees, do not hitch the horses until the bees are on the wagon. 
Unhitch before unloading. 

10. When you see many bees hunting around ncoks and corners, you may be sure 
there is some robbing going on somewhere. 

11. One bee in March is worth ten bees in June, as it is the early bees that help to 
breed the large swarms. So make things convenient for your bees early in the season ; 
supply them with water close at hand and flour in place of the pollen which they cannot 
get yet. The flour must be packed in a lump in an open box exposed to the sun. An old 
comb or a little honey is used for bait. 

12. Two drones cost as much to raise as three working bees, and after they are raised 
they keep on eating, while the workers labor for you. 

13. In the early spring remove the drone comb and replace it with worker comb or 
comb foundation, as much as in your power. You will always leave more drone comb 
than needed, and every square foot of drone comb replaced by worker comb is equal to a 
dollar saved. 

14. Remember that comb costs the bees about ten pounds of honey for every pound of 
comb. So if your honey is worth 10 cents per pound, worker comb or comb foundation is 
worth to you $r.oo per pound. This is why the business of foundation making has taken 
such great proportions. Every man who uses it doubles his investment. 

15. The use of comb foundation not only saves a great deal of labor and time to 
the bees, but it also secures straight combs in the frame and does away with the 
over-production of drone comb. 

SUMMER. 

16. The honey harvest lasts but a few days, or at most a few weeks, so you must be 
ready for it. Make hay while the sun shines. 

17. One pound of comb honey, neatly put up in a clean case, is worth as much as two 
pounds slovenly put up, and is a recommendation for the producer. 

18. If you raise comb honey only for your own use, it will pay you to raise it in large 
frames 6 inches deep and the full length of the hive. If you raise it for sale, it should be 
raised in one-pound sections. 

ig. If you raise honey and extract it from the comb so as to return the empty combs 
to the bees to be filled again, you will raise twice as much after you have a sufficient 
supply of empty combs to keep your bees at work. 

20. It pays to have an extractor and use it, if you own but four hives of bees. 

21. Honey should not be extracted when first harvested, as it is watery, unripe, and 
will sour. Give the bees time to ripen it and keep them at work with sufficient room. 

22. When bees are hanging out in front of the hive, it shows that they are uncom- 
fortable in it or have no room. They should be given more air, inore shade or more 
room, according to the circumstances. 

PAGE EIGHTEEX 



best condition to produce wax. 

2. If vou sive your bees a good supply of empty combs before the beginning of the 
honey crop a^d k!ep tLm at work.fhey will rarely swarm. But if they once f^nd themselves 
crowdedTnd get the swarming fever, nothing will keep them from swarmmg. 

25. When making artificial swarms, raise your queens and drones from the best 
colonies. 

26 A queenless colony will raise queens at once, if it has larvae less than three days 
old, and these queens will hatch within 10 to 12 days. 

' 27. The old queen always goes with the f^rst swarm, unless she is unable to fly. 

28. Make but a limited number of swarms, and make them strong and early Late 
natural swarms should be returned to the parent h.ve about twenty-four hours after 
hiving them. 

20 The colonies that work freely on red clover should be used as breeders in prefer- 
ence to others, as the tongues of their bees are evidently longer. 

FALL. 

30. Do not take too much honey from your bees. Remember that ^^ is their surplus 
you should take and nothing else. Do not kill the cow to get the milk, or the hen to get 
the egg. 

V When you open a hive of bees, if you see any robber bees flying ab°ut you may 
be sure that ther'i is no honey in the fields, and you must avoid leaving the hives open, or 
exposing honey in their reach. 

32. A robber bee is easily recognized by its quick motions and sneaking ways. 

33. All bees will become robbers if tempted with exposed sweets in time of scarcity. 
3.. Decrease the size of the entrance of your hives when the honey crop is over, but 

be sure and have it very large during the honey crop. 

,c Bees will not work on fruit juice when there is honey in the Af d^'^^'^ ^J^^J 

It is b"rdf and hornets that damage sound fruit. Bees only gather the lost juices. 

36 In seasons of scarcity your bees should be fed. You will have such a season 
once in ten, and the busy little things will repay you fully the following year. 

3, Honey-dew and fruit juice are bad winter food and should be extracted from the 
combs.' When you have to fe^d, if you cannot get good honey, use good sugar syrup 
mixed with some honey. 

38. If the bees have to be fed in winter, the food should be given them before the 
opening of cold weather. 

SUNDRY ADVICES 

39. Do not watch for bee moths, but keep your colonies strong and healthy, and they 
will take care of the moths. 

40 A good bee smoker and bee veil are indispensable to an apiarist. Some people 
do not' use feils, but they occasionally get stung on the face, and this is not very pleasant. 

41. Smoke the bees at the entrance a little before opening a hive. 

42 Do not handle your bees early or late, or in the night. On the contrary, select the 
warmest part of the day, as the old bees are then in the field. 

PAGE NINETEEN 



^3- When you are stung do not lose a second, but scrape the sting off. Do not pinch 
it off, as you are more than likely to drive more poison into the wound. A sting instantly 
removed gives but little pain comparatively. 

ji/\. There is more profit with less labor in 300 hives of bees than in 160 acres of land, 
but you should know what to do and do it in time. 

45. There are about 5,000 bees in a pound. A gallon of honey v.'eighs 11 to 12 pounds, 
according to its density. The cells of the worker bee m.easure about 5 to the inch, from 
wall to wall, those of the drones about 4 to the inch. There are about 27 worker cells or 
18 drone cells on each side of a square inch of comb. 



DO>C 



BEE-CULTURE VERSUS POULTRY RAISING 

Poultry is raised by the masses. The large or small farmer, the horticulturalist, the 
m.arket-gardener, the suburban, especially if a man of small means, but often even when he 
has large means, the clerk, the doctor, the minister, the widow of small income, all raise 
poultry, unless they are living within the limits of thickly populated districts or unless 
their revenue is sufficient to make them careless of small earnings like the home production 
of eggs and chickens. 

Bee-culture is not followed by more than one in a hundred among poultry raisers, but 
is nevertheless a very practicable and economical adjunct, in similar conditions. A small 
back yard in any suburb may be used for a few hives right among the chickens. It is suffi- 
cient that the hives be placed in a shed or on a stand at an elevation of a few feet above the 
chicken yard, so that the chickens should be unable to jump on the hives, which they would 
soil more or less, besides the danger of their angering the bees by the jar. Neither should 
the hives face too directly into the chicken yard, unless it be so they may fly above it. The 
writer has often seen bees kept right among the chickens, and they seemed to learn at their 
first flight that the poultry were not to be considered as enemies. 

With a large back yard or only a flat roof, in the thinly populated suburbs of even as 
crowded cities as St. Louis or Chicago, large apiaries may be kept, very profitably. We 
know of a gentleman who has thus kept as many as 85 colonies and harvests thousands of 
pounds of honey, which readily retail among his neighbors at good prices, as customers in 
his vicinity know that he raises the honey himself and have confidence in its quality, for 
that very reason. 

Without aiming at such large results, the owner of a small home, anywhere in the 
reach of pasture lands, vacant lots covered in summer with a growth of white clover, 
sweet clover or melilot, heartsease or smart weed, Spanish needles or other wild blossoms ; 
where fruit trees may be found in small numbers in every yard, or near a dairy or a park, 
such a party, man or woman, may easily add to the annual income, by keeping a few 
hives of bees. Very few industries require so little capital. As you have invested a few 
dollars in chickens and erected a little shed for them, you invest a few dollars in a couple 
colonies of bees of good breed and in sound movable-frame hives, a smoker, a bee veil, a 
hive tool. The total cost does not need to exceed $15.00 and you are sufficiently equipped 
for the beginning. Do not think of buying an extractor or other implements until the first 
crop begins to show in the super. But be sure to buy some literature, a good book, for you 
must be informed in the theory if you wish to succeed in the practice. Do not be afraid of 
handling your bees and examining them, provided you don't expose the brood to the cold 
air or the combs to robber bees. If they are carefully looked after, supplied with room 

PAGE TWENTY 




A City Apiary. 



when needed, a little syrup when they are 
short of stores — which may happen even 
at the opening of the honey harvest, kept 
well sheltered from the hot sun or the 
coldest weather, they will give you much 
greater proportionate returns than any 
similar sum invested in poultry, consider- 
ing the amount of labor, for they need no 
morning or evening feeding, no weekly 
cleaning of the coop, but take care of 
themselves in all ordinary circumstances. 
In other words, they work for you and 
board themselves, if they are only given 
a chance. 

If you must be away all day at your 

occupation, even during swarming time, 

arrangements may be made by which absconding swarms will be but a remote possibility. 

If you should occasionally lose a swarm, there will still be very satisfactory returns from 

your little pets. 

Of course, care must be exercised not to anger the bees and cause them to sting the 
neighbors, but should such an accident happen, remember that the gift of a pound or two 
of honey will do more to smooth such wounds than the most urbane excuses. However, 
the accomplished bee-keeper does not have cross-tempered bees, for he learns how to 
handle them properly at the start, and those who have carefully read this little pamphlet 
know how it may be done without exertion. 

A word, in closing, to the school teacher. There is no business which a teacher may 
undertake, more fitting than bee-culture. Nearly all of the bee work is needed during the 
vacation months, from May to October. Many teachers have an inadequate salary and see 
mature age coming with an impossibility of gathering a decent bank account. Earningr 
may be made during the summer months, equal to the salary of the entire school term, on 
a small plot of land, through bee-keeping. 



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